After being in development for years, No Man's Sky is finally landing in video game stores. The highly anticipated PlayStation 4 and PC exclusive promises to provide players with an infinite-sized universe to explore. It will have more worlds than any other game out there, and provide countless hours—or even years—of entertainment. For a title created by a small development team at Hello Games, it is easily one of the most ambitious of the year.

No Man's Sky is an enormous game that will attract a wide variety of gamers for different reasons. It is impossible to name them all, but below, we've listed why people should be excited for this title.

Tell your own storyNo Man's Sky doesn't feature a traditional story. The only goal is to reach the center of the universe and to see what lies there. How players get there and what they do in-between is entirely up to them. While this lack of narrative may be off-putting for some, it means that users will be able to craft their own tale as they play.

No Man's Sky will be a unique and personal journey for each player. Given the number of planets to explore, gamers will make discoveries that are entirely their own. Every discovery made can be uploaded for others to see via the game's Atlas. Considering the sheer size of the universe, it is certain that play sessions will yield new discoveries every time.

This game will surely spawn as many tales as it has planets, and its community should be a vibrant one because of that. In fact, it is reasonable to expect that this title will become extremely popular with streaming sites like Twitch. Every play-through will be unique; fans of particular streamers will tune in to see the latest exploits from their favorite personalities. This game may give birth to new streaming sensations.

Endless spaceThough No Man's Sky has an infinitely explorable universe, it isn't exactly borderless. There are approximately 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 traversable planets in the game. Even if one were to visit each world for just one second, it would take 585 billion years to see them all. This game isn't infinite, but it may as well be. No Man's Sky is so huge that it is unlikely that players will ever actually run into one another.

Though the game's planets are randomly generated, there is a set of physics in place that keeps them all consistent. What is great about worlds being randomly generated is that none of them have to be stored on a hard drive or server. The entire game can be played offline and still provide the same amount of content for everyone.

One interesting aspect about how large the game is, is that even the developers do not fully know how much is out there. They have even sent a set of robots to explore the game in an attempt to chart the universe to see if there is enough variety out there for gamers. Developers are usually aware of every inch of their titles; having a game that will surprise its own creators is certainly unheard of.

Customizable space shipsWhether you want speed, maneuverability, jump drive range, or weapon power, you'll be able to craft a spaceship to meet these and any other needs. You will only be able to use one ship at any given moment, so having a small fleet of versatile ships is essential.

You can buy ships or ship parts from different shops, but in order to do that, you'll need to find resources on each planet to sell to raise enough money to buy what you need. You'll also be required to buy hyperdrive fuel from shops if you want to make hyperspace jumps to other star systems.

If, for whatever reason, your ship is destroyed and you have no money to buy a new one, you'll be given a stock ship to start over. This ship won't have any hyperdrive fuel, so you'll need to explore the planets of whatever system you find yourself stuck in to search for more. You'll also lose any resources you had before your ship met its untimely demise. It is wise to be careful not to get your ship destroyed while exploring.

Space combatThere is more to No Man's Sky than peaceful exploration. Try to avoid it if you want, but the game may put you in situations where combat is necessary.

Like the Grand Theft Auto series, you will get a "Wanted Level" depending on certain actions you perform. Going to a planet and over-mining it or killing too many creatures will have you being pursued by the Sentinels. Attacking spacecraft will get you noticed by the space police as well. If your actions become more destructive, the authorities will respond with greater force. However, there are certain unlawful planets where you can do as you please without fear of retaliation.

The game will have different factions that you can either ally or become enemies with. Siding with one faction will put you at odds with others. It also means that you will be protected from enemies if your specific faction is around to provide you with aid.

Combat isn't limited to space. Your multi-tool has a basic firing mode. The multi-tool can be upgraded so that it can unleash more powerful attacks. A planet's wildlife may not always be friendly, so having an upgraded multi-tool device handy may mean the difference between life and death on these strange alien worlds.

Robust economySpace is a big place. As such, it offers players many different ways to earn money. Units are the universe's currency, and they can be earned by trading resources at posts, shooting down space pirates, and uploading discoveries to the Atlas.

Finding the best trade routes will offer players the chance to make a serious profit. Capital ships will travel along trade routes and send ships to mine for materials. Players can take advantage of this and attack ships for their goods, though they will be heavily defended. There may also be space pirates attacking these ships as well. Of course, players can choose to simply use the trade routes as a means to find traders that will sell or buy goods from them.

With the summer gaming drought still underway, No Man's Sky will provide thirsty gamers with something expansive to play. This title is certainly ambitious in its scope, so it will be interesting to see if it can manage to live up to the hype it has generated. While still somewhat mysterious, it seems poised to be one that players will be playing and talking about for years to come. No Man's Sky is definitely a game to keep an eye on.

About the Author

Considering normal life mundane, Tony prefers to spend most of his time absorbed in fictional worlds that stimulate his imagination. Tony is a geek through and through, and his love for Comic Books, Science Fiction, Heavy Metal, and Video Games knows no bounds. He uses his natural writing talent and communication skills to express to the world why ... See Full Bio

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